Maternity rights: Employee with no right to return unfairly dismissed

This report relates to 1 case(s)

In Hilton International Hotels (UK) Ltd v Kaissi (23 February 1994) EOR56C, the EAT holds that a woman on maternity leave whose contract of employment continues can be unfairly dismissed, even if she has failed to comply with the statutory notification requirements laid down by the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act.

The contract of an employee who is on maternity leave may
continue during her absence, even if she has failed to comply with the
statutory notice requirements and so has no right to return to work, confirms
the EAT in Hilton International Hotels (UK) Ltd v Kaissi.
As a consequence, the employee may have the right to complain of unfair
dismissal if her employer terminates her contract during her absence.

As readers will be painfully aware, the statutory maternity
provisions are complex.

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